This descriptive study aims at learning about the behavior of 113 people with diabetes mellitus assisted at a large hospital in relation to the utilization and re-utilization of disposable syringes for the administration of insulin at home. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. The obtained results showed that 98.2% used a disposable syringe for insulin application and only 5.3% actually disposed of it. Among these, 94.6% re-used the disposable syringe after application by means of various procedures. We believe that such practice is one of the facets in diabetes education and, in view of it, we point out the need for a scientifically-based review of DIMED's recommendation established by Decree no. 4/86.
insulin therapy; syringes; disposable equipment; nursing care